The Fairy Ring

Yesterday was a glorious day for us on our trip. In the morning, we visited Winterthur, the country estate built by Henry Francis DuPont to be a museum. The 175-room house (!) and 1,000 acres of land surrounding is makes it the largest of the DuPont estates, and it really is quite a site to be seen. We first enjoyed a family-focused tour of the 5th floor, which included rooms decorated in the Federal style and one that was completely lined with 18th-century Chinese wallpaper. It was fascinating to hear our tour guide talk about what it was like for DuPont's two daughters to grow up in this enormous museum of a house. After the inside tour, we walked around the grounds some, with our goal being the recently-added Enchanted Woods, which was set up to be a children's garden. One of the areas was a circle of what looked like toadstools. The sign next to it warned visitors, "Never, ever step inside a fairy ring." Erin not only stepped inside the ring, but sat on one of the toadstools, and immediately, the ring filled with a cool mist. It was incredible - cool, refreshing, and totally magical. Certainly not something that will be forgotten any time soon.